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Budapest is served by both full-service and low-cost carriers from across Europe, and by a growing number of long-haul routes since Wizz Air and others made it a base.
Before you book
There is no rail link to the airport, which is unusual for a European capital and worth knowing in advance. Bus 100E runs direct to Deák Ferenc tér in about forty minutes and requires its own dedicated ticket — an ordinary travelcard is not valid on it. The cheaper route is bus 200E to Kőbánya-Kispest and metro M3, which a normal ticket or travelcard does cover. See airport to the city.
One terminal. Budapest Ferenc Liszt International has a single passenger terminal, Terminal 2, split into piers 2A and 2B and joined by the shared SkyCourt building. Arrivals for both come out into the same hall. Terminal 1 closed to passengers in 2012; older directions that mention it are out of date.
Hungary is in Schengen, so time here counts against the 90-days-in-180 allowance for non-EU visitors, and there are no border checks arriving from Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia or Croatia.
Hungary is not in the eurozone. The currency is the forint, and you will need some.
When fares are lowest
January, February and November are the cheapest months, and they are also the cheapest for accommodation, which compounds usefully. Winter Budapest — the baths in the steam, the Christmas markets before they get busy — is a perfectly good trip.
December is expensive because of the markets, and August is expensive because of Sziget and the heat-season peak. Late spring and September cost more than winter and are the best weather.
Mid-week departures are consistently cheaper than Friday and Sunday.
The overland alternative
Budapest sits on good rail links. Vienna is two and a half hours on a direct Railjet from Keleti and is genuinely competitive with flying once airport time is counted. Bratislava is about two and a half hours, Prague around six and a half, Zagreb about six, Belgrade around eight on the upgraded line.
For Vienna and Bratislava in particular, the train wins on time, cost and comfort.